OT - Hazing in high school sports

Submitted by Blue in Paradise on
https://247sports.com/college/michigan/Bolt/High-school-football-player… This is disturbing for anyone but especially for the parent of a high school athlete (let’s not get into college / frat hazing). My son is 11 and he has said he would like to play high school football when we are back in the U.S. This team obviously took hazing to an extreme and there should be legal consequences for the morons who beat up this kid. My question is whether a milder version of this kind of thing is normal or if most schools are on top of hazing.

FauxMo

May 5th, 2018 at 7:38 PM ^

What a bunch of cowardly losers. Nothing more pathetic than a gang of guys teaming up against a weaker kid all by himself. 

boliver46

May 5th, 2018 at 9:02 PM ^

was a Sophomore.

The first Freshman to play Varsity OL according to coach.

Such an honor.

Such an honor that when the workers finished putting down the rubberized flooring for our weight room - there were some extra strips of rubber leftover

Strips of rubber that the older players thought it would be "fun" to chase me around the locker room - Naked after a shower - and beat the living shit out of me with them.

Told my coach -and he basically told me to suck it up as a "rite of passage".

So glad his ass got fired after the season.

This was 1990.

Not anything new - and from what I hear - hasn't changed much.

#CoolFuckedUpStoryBro

In reply to by boliver46

Rose Bowl

May 5th, 2018 at 10:32 PM ^

Yep.   Messed up.

At my mid-Michigan high school the "cool kids" decided to play L.A. riots in the locker room.  That meant one kid got the crap beat out of him every day by the others.  I hated it and it was dumb, but nobody got seriously injured.  

Nothing is new under the sun.

Kevin13

May 7th, 2018 at 11:31 AM ^

Hazing has gotten a little ridiculous with some of this crap. Basically Freshman should have to carry equipment maybe set crap up for practices, pay their dues. But, there should not be violence involved in hazing.

Fhshockey112002

May 5th, 2018 at 7:41 PM ^

As a head coach of a varsity hockey program, this is appalling. I would say most schools are very on top of hazing in today’s climate. As a coach you will never know 100% of what your team is doing away from the rink (field, court, etc) but I would hope a good coach is paying attention close enough to stop something like this.

MGoBender

May 5th, 2018 at 10:04 PM ^

Varsity coach here.  I'd say I'm 100% confident our guys know that nothing even approaching hazing would fly and they'd be done.  We work hard to build a family culture, though.  I don't even allow freshmen to carry team equipment.  It's the responsibility of the upper-classmen.  You lay out rules and expecations, don't be afraid to label anything and are direct, things go well.  We have a rule that specifically addresses hazing, bullying, sexual harrassment, etc, for example.

I still hear things happening at other schools, but they are fewer and farther in between and have never had an issue personally.

 

killerseafood3

May 5th, 2018 at 7:47 PM ^

That video is disgusting. The coach should be fired and those kids should face legal consequences. Ive never understood why a person would feel tough jumping another person with multiple people. Disgusting.

Wolverdog

May 5th, 2018 at 7:49 PM ^

That is a toxic culture if that crap is allowed. In no way should any, coach, parent, administrator, and especially not a teammate allow that kind of behavior. They would all be gone. Turn your helmet and hear in, get on the bus, and never set foot in my lockerroom again. Period. Nothing justifies that “team” behavior.

Maize_Nation

May 5th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^

I never really was, or saw, any hazing in high schools. The only thing was as a freshman you'd be tasked with doing the bullshit tasks like getting the water jugs and equipment.

MichiganFan1984

May 5th, 2018 at 7:55 PM ^

This is messed up. I don’t really have anything else to say and I watched it for about 4 seconds.

bronxblue

May 5th, 2018 at 7:59 PM ^

Jesus, that was brutal.  Guys just jumped directly on his arm, kicked him in the head and face, just horrific.  This isn't "hazing", it's fucking battery by a bunch of guys who were taught by some other assholes that the way to show how tough you are is to beat up someone else and then gaslight him into thinking it was part of some bigger plan.  I hope they all get punished appropriately, and anyone else who thinks this is fine or acceptable be kicked in the face a couple of times and see how much they like and respect the people doing it.

cbuswolverine

May 5th, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^

I played three sports in high school and never saw any hazing.  I'm sure I knew what hazing was when I was in high school, but I don't recall ever even having a disucssion about it with friends, parents, coaches, etc.

Walter Sobchak

May 5th, 2018 at 8:21 PM ^

My hazing for the Michigan club soccer team was pretty intense. It involved a lot of alcohol, bonging a goldfish, projectile vomiting, and sleeping in a strange girls dorm.

I'm lucky to be alive and disease free.

4yearsofhoke

May 5th, 2018 at 8:24 PM ^

I didn't experience hazing like that at all and would say it's very uncommon. I went to a pretty large school, but in a small town. The older kids would ride on you when you're younger (esp. because we shared a lockerroom) but nothing like that.

Closest thing to hazing I saw was basically older guys who thought it'd be funny while they're heading to showers to stand close to freshman etc... 

Blueblood80

May 5th, 2018 at 8:36 PM ^

I honestly don’t understand the idea behind hazing or any of those activities. Messing with the new guy at work, freshman pranks, etc. I am a COO at a company and I have very little tolerance for practical jokes. Whatever it is, there always seems to be the guy that has to “one up” the other and then you end up with a mess just like this case. Sad :-(

UMgradMSUdad

May 5th, 2018 at 8:39 PM ^

There was a hazing incident in Oklahoma involving football players at the school district superintendent's house.  The superindentent's son is one of the four players charged with rape by instrumentation.  Oh, and school officials waited over a month and a half to report the incident to police.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/bixbyinvestigation/charges-filed-in-bixby-sex-assault-investigation-related-to-football/article_87cf73ee-b66a-55ef-b3a9-65a82d65f22f.html

It's horrible what these four young men did, but it certainly seems like there should be jail time for some of the adults involved in the cover up.

The Man Down T…

May 5th, 2018 at 8:46 PM ^

are calling it what it is:

 

In a written statement from the Mobile Police Department, Chief of Police Lawrence Battiste wrote, “The Mobile Police Department is aware of the incident that occurred at Davidson High School on April 27, 2018 where a 14-year-old male student was assaulted by several teammates in the locker room after practice. We are actively investigating to determine all individuals responsible for causing the student to sustain a broken arm injury.

Wolverheel

May 5th, 2018 at 9:12 PM ^

Two seniors on my high school alma mater's hockey team got kicked out of school for literally sticking a stick up a freshman's ass. They had the locker room keys because one of them was the team captain. I can't think of a more cowardly act than something like that. Even my frat never had anything that would fuck me emotionally like getting sodomized by a wooden stick.

xtramelanin

May 5th, 2018 at 8:56 PM ^

in '80.  jamie todd got taped to a tree, which was no big deal, but the alcohol poisoning nearly killed him.  never ended up playing which was very sad.  good guy, good hockey player.  

Tuebor

May 5th, 2018 at 9:06 PM ^

The only hazing I encountered in high school football was as a freshman the jv team made us clear their trays in the dining hall during football camp.

Stupid? Yes. But not the end of the world.

FatGuyTouchdown

May 5th, 2018 at 9:44 PM ^

was basically making the freshmen clean up bags and carry shit in from practice. Nothing out of the ordinary. I went to a couple of quality programs and it was always made clear to us legit hazing was never tolerated.

BlueWolverine02

May 5th, 2018 at 10:00 PM ^

20+ years ago, but the most hazing I ever saw in football was making guys carry stuff.  We had a little more on the wrestling team, but certainly nothing like this.